Panic in the Iranian street as the hour zero

A few days ago, Iran is severed from the first set of US economic sanctions, sparking alarm in the Iranian street, which has already emerged in new waves of protest over rising fears of a complete collapse of the country’s economy.

A videotape posted by Iranian activists on social media sites described a long line of cars in front of a fuel station in the city of Khammam to supply oil, amid fears of high prices.

The heavy demand for petrol stations coincides with a wave of protests in Tehran and most of the country’s regions, against the background of the continued collapse of the dollar exchange rate and the continued deterioration of the economy.

With the United States ready to re-impose sanctions on Iran next week, which was lifted under the nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald Trump, the value of the Iranian riyal fell to a record low.

This has raised fears that Iran will suffer long economic hardship and further civil unrest in the country, which is suffering from the mullahs’ policy of wasting national resources to achieve its malicious agenda, as well as rampant corruption among the ruling class.

The Iranian riyal fell to new levels on Monday, exceeding 120,000 riyals to the dollar as the Iranians prepared to return the United States to impose the first batch of economic sanctions on August 7.

A few days ago, major markets in major cities witnessed sit-ins and strikes in parallel to a wave of protests, which were met with a violent crackdown by the security forces, without stopping demonstrations.

On Wednesday, the Iranian opposition reported that “popular protests against high prices, unemployment and the destruction of the living conditions in parts of the Greater Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz markets have continued.”

A member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Hussein Daiy al-Islam, said the demonstrations began Tuesday “in these cities, including the city of Karaj and continued Wednesday and a candidate for expansion.”

The Iranian parliament plans to hold a special session to question President Hassan Rowhani because of the devaluation of the currency and the failure of the economy, and he must come within a month to answer the questions of MPs in an “open session.”